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Updated: Oct 20, 2025

A Within-subjects Experimental Protocol to Assess the Effects of Social Input on Infant EEG
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Infant social interactions and brain development: A systematic review

Dianna Ilyka1, Mark H Johnson1, Sarah Lloyd-Fox1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|September 10, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Early social interactions are crucial for infant brain development. This review links caregiver-infant behaviors to brain measures, showing lasting impacts from infancy through adulthood.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Neuroscience
  • Social Neuroscience
  • Child Psychology

Background:

  • Social interactions are fundamental from birth, particularly for infant brain development.
  • Early social exchanges shape neural pathways and cognitive functions.
  • Understanding these early influences is key to identifying developmental trajectories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review studies examining the link between adult-infant social interactions and neural development.
  • To synthesize findings on how caregiver behaviors influence brain measures across the lifespan.
  • To identify patterns and durations of associations between social interaction and neural outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic literature search for studies correlating coded adult-infant behaviors with neuroimaging data.
  • Inclusion of studies with neural measures taken during infancy, childhood, adolescence, or adulthood.
  • Analysis of 55 identified studies focusing on social interaction and neural correlates.

Main Results:

  • Multiple aspects of caregiver-infant behaviors are significantly associated with neural responses.
  • Associations were observed concurrently and longitudinally, from infancy into adulthood.
  • Early postnatal social experiences predict later neural development.

Conclusions:

  • Caregiver-infant social interactions have demonstrable and lasting effects on brain development.
  • These findings highlight the critical window of early social experiences for neural maturation.
  • Further longitudinal research is essential to fully elucidate these long-term associations.

Keywords:
Brain developmentBrain network connectivityBrain-Behaviour associationsCaregiver-infant interactionsElectroencephalography (EEG)Event-related potential (ERP)Frontal EEG asymmetryFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)InfancyQuality of interactionSocial interactions

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